OCEANSIDE: Mail-in ballots to go out Monday

RAY HUARD - rhuard@nctimes.com

Oceanside voters can cast ballots as soon as next week in a
special election to fill a vacant City Council seat and decide
whether to adopt a city charter.

More than 35,000 ballots will be mailed Monday to Oceanside
residents who are registered as permanent mail-ballot voters.
Countywide, more than 625,000 mail-in ballots will be sent out for
the June 8 primary election, said county Registrar of Voters
Deborah Seiler.

City Clerk Barbara Riegel Wayne said she expects mail-in ballots
to account for well over half the votes cast in Oceanside.

"Mail ballots are getting to be such an easy way for people to
vote, more people are doing it," Wayne said. She said about 50 to
60 percent of Oceanside voters typically vote by mail.

The deadline to register to vote in the June 8 election is May
24, Wayne said.

Wayne is predicting that 40 to 50 percent of Oceanside's 72,805
registered voters will ultimately vote in the election, but she
said the question is how many of them will vote on city issues,
which are low on the ballot.

"It depends on what's inspiring people to vote. It's still hard
to figure out if the majority of voters have gotten interested
yet," Wayne said. "There's a whole lot of issues (on the ballot)
before they get to our issues. It would be good if people started
with the city issues, then worked their way up."

Countywide, Seiler said she expects a voter turnout of 35 to 45
percent, with turnout slightly higher among those voting by
mail.

"Among the people who vote by mail, there tends to be a higher
turnout than among those that go to the polls," Seiler said.

At issue in the Oceanside election is who will fill the
unexpired council term of Rocky Chavez, who resigned in December to
become state undersecretary of veterans affairs. Whichever
candidate gets the most votes would serve through November, when
another election is set to fill the four-year term.

Five council candidates are listed on the June ballot. In the
order their names are listed, they are former bakery owner Charles
"Chuck" Lowery, 58; Michael Lucas, 67, a retired supervisor with
the state Bureau of Automotive Repair; Lloyd Prosser, 67, a
business management consultant and retired U.S. Marine lieutenant
colonel; financial planner Ward O'Doherty, 42; and Ken Crossman,
62, a civilian supervisor in the Oceanside Police Department and
former sheriff's sergeant.

Running as a write-in candidate is John Dowell, 67, a property
manager and civilian pilot of unmanned aircraft for the
military.

City voters also must decide whether to adopt a city charter,
which supporters say will give the city more control of its own
destiny. Critics said the charter would give too much power to the
City Council.

Oceanside is a general-law city bound by state law on everything
from how it awards construction contracts to when it schedules city
elections and how much it pays council members.

A charter city can make its own rules on such matters.

Voter information booklets listing the candidates and ballot
measures, with arguments for and against each candidate and ballot
issue, are being mailed out this week and next week, Seiler
said.

Booklets sent to registered Republicans will include an insert
from the Republican Party of San Diego endorsing several
candidates, including Prosser, and backing Oceanside's charter
proposal. The San Diego Democratic Party is not including a similar
insert to registered Democrats.

Call staff writer Ray Huard at 760-901-4062

Correction:
This article has been modified tocorrect the spelling of a candidate's name. Michael Lucas is one ofsix candidates running for an Oceanside City Council seat, notMichael Lewis.